


sugar and spice, and everything nice

by textbookchoices



Category: Spider-Man (Video Game 2018)
Genre: F/F, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26565520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/textbookchoices/pseuds/textbookchoices
Summary: She had lied.Felicia didn’t have a son.But she did have a daughter.
Relationships: Felicia Hardy/Mary Jane Watson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: pine4pine 2020





	sugar and spice, and everything nice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VampirePaladin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/gifts).



> This is an AU wherein MJ and Peter are just friends. Otherwise, things are pretty much the same as in the game up to the end of Black Cat's DLC.

She had lied.

Felicia didn’t have a son.

But she did have a daughter.

Emily, a sweet little thing, always eager to play though she’s still so small that she can hardly walk on her own without falling every few steps.

She’s a chubby girl, with chubby cheeks and chubby thighs, vividly bright green eyes and soft, brown hair. She has a giggle that melts Felicia every time she hears it, and when she cries, Felicia gives in and spoils her rotten with whatever it is that she wants, be it warm cuddles or bright, shiny new toys.

Emily inherited Felicia’s love for shiny things. Like mother, like daughter, as they say.

Of course, Emily hadn’t been kidnapped. That was another lie. Felicia’s baby girl had been safe at home, being watched over by a sly old fox who’d had the time to spare—and who had been the one to come up with this particular plan in the first place, so babysitting while Felicia goes out and plays with mafia thugs is the least he could do.

Felicia had never intended to get pregnant. She’d never intended to become a mother; she certainly wasn’t the type, and as much as she’d tried to settle into a regular office job from nine to five, sweatpants on the weekend with ice cream and a stolen Netflix password, well.

That just wasn’t the life for her.

But she did get pregnant; she did give birth to a beautiful, screaming, little girl, and it hadn’t taken more than a moment to fall in love. It hadn’t taken more than a moment for Felicia to know that that child was hers, and she’d never let her go, would never let her fall into the wrong hands or get hurt.

Not at any cost.

And then Felicia had died.

Not really, of course. But it was real enough that she couldn’t just slip right back into the den and take her baby home, safe and sound. No—it was dangerous, and she’d get rid of them all, but it would take time and patience and by God, she wouldn’t have normally minded that at all.

It might have been fun, a year and a half ago.

The fox takes her baby and drops her off in front of an apartment door with a short, no-nonsense knock. Felicia wasn’t there, but she knows. She knows that Emily was asleep in her baby carrier, that she was clutching that fluffy stuffed toy cat in her fingers, wrapped up in a soft, white blanket.

She knows because the fox told her before he disappeared, and Felicia, quiet as a cat, sneaked a peek through Peter’s apartment window when she knew he was neck deep in guns and bombs and dead cops.

Emily was sitting in that pretty little redhead’s lap, chewing on her own fist while the girl—woman—tapped away at her laptop, multi-tasking like some sort of natural. Felicia, of course, was far from jealous. Felicia Hardy didn’t _get_ jealous.

If she wanted something, she just took it.

And she’d take Emily back as soon as it wasn’t dangerous for her daughter.

She hops off the balcony landing.

For now, Emily is safe.

Still, Felicia stops in to watch Emily at least once a day.

MJ watches Emily often, and a boy named Miles on occasion—Felicia wasn’t terribly impressed with that one. He was young and tended to try and entertain Emily by climbing on the ceiling.

Peter himself is so overwhelmed by the baby that he doesn’t seem to notice her at all; Felicia’s not adverse to taking advantage of distraction to watch. Emily prefers MJ, becoming fussy the longer Peter holds her in that awkward attempt of his. MJ laughs at him and says, “I can’t believe you’re a father and you don’t even know how to hold a baby.”

He shrugs helplessly.

Felicia rolls her eyes.

It isn’t like they quiz you on your parenting abilities before they let you have sex.

She slips through the window when Tony Stark, disappearing with Peter while Emily sleeps soundly in her crib—and since when does Peter have _Tony Stark_ visiting in the middle of the night?—and slips her fingers into his five-hundred dollar wallet that he’d left lying on the kitchen table.

Peter’s too distracted to notice anyway, and Felicia likes shiny things as much as her daughter, who’d grabbed Stark’s sunglasses right off his face earlier, as fascinated as possible by the gold frames and the glass that glinted in the light.

It’s MJ she appreciates the most.

MJ holds Emily close and sings her soft, sweet lullabies. She rubs her nose against Emily’s to high-pitched laughs and giggles, and she leads Emily across the room on uneasy, still-learning feet, one step at a time.

She says, soft and suspiciously kind, “Your mother was a nice woman. Scary, and very good at stealing, but hey, I hear she really liked cats and she made sure you were safe and sound while she was working, didn’t she? Maybe she’ll come back some day, hm? She does that. Comes back, I mean. She saved me once. Came back when I thought I was in big trouble and your Dad was too far away to help.”

Felicia had saved her.

Sometimes, girls just had to stick together.

MJ even takes Emily home with her some nights, when Peter is tired or injured or both, busy as always as Spider-Man and as Peter Parker, new intern at Stark Industries. Felicia follows MJ and Emily, and if something in her chest squeezes tightly when MJ falls asleep on her couch, laptop on the floor, papers strewn about, and Emily softly sleeping on her chest, well.

No one ever has to know.

Three weeks later, Felicia breaks into corporate office building, fury written across her face, and viciously rips through the men posted like security in the hallways. She’d rip out their throats if it didn’t take _too much time_.

She breaks the code into the office, swiftly cutting the alarm with her sharp claws.

Emily is sobbing, her face streaked with tears, as she sits on the floor next to MJ, lying quiet and deathly still, a taser just inches from her spread out palm. There’s blood across her forehead, dripping down her cheek.

Felicia picks Emily up, and she hovers over MJ to feel soft, slow, stuttering breaths.

She’s still alive.

She makes a phone call.

She and Emily are gone when Spider-Man swings in.

A week later, Felicia knocks carefully on Mary Jane Watson’s apartment door.

MJ answers, her eyes wide and her mouth sliding open to breathe out, “Emily.”

Emily reaches for her, and Felicia’s heart clenches, but she lets Emily climb into MJ’s arms. MJ cradles her carefully, and Felicia notes that she still has a bandage on her forehead.

MJ looks at her and says, “Well, you should come in.”

MJ gives her hot chocolate, and Emily gets a bottle of watered down juice from the fridge.

“It’s Pedialyte,” she says, almost defensively when Felicia watches her, clutching her mug.

“That’s fine,” she says. “Emily likes the sweeter things in life.”

MJ smiles softly and says, “She gets that from you?”

“Of course.”

MJ hums, and pulls softly at Emily’s toes, making Emily squirm and laugh.

“Peter is at the tower. He’s been staying with Tony a lot lately.”

Felicia shrugs. “I came to see you.”

“What, need a babysitter?”

“No. But Emily likes you.”

“Of course she does. She’s a smart girl.”

They’re quiet for a moment. Emily yawns and begins to fuss, reaching for Felicia and trying to crawl toward her. Felicia lifts her up, curling an arm around her.

“Do you want to stay here?” MJ asks, suddenly. “For tonight, I mean. I have a crib already set up. You could sleep on the couch.” She pauses, and adds, “Just don’t steal anything.”

Felicia smirks. “I only steal from people like Stark, Red.”

MJ suddenly snorts out a laugh, covering her mouth. “Oh my God, was that—Tony’s entire wallet got emptied a few weeks ago! That was you!”

“He really shouldn’t leave his things lying around.”

“Wow. That’s—that’s something. Go to your boyfriend’s house for a booty call, end up giving the _Black Cat_ the entirety of your wallet.” MJ smiles at her, shaking her head. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Depends on the favor.”

“Don’t disappear again.”

MJ looks serious. She’s frowning, staring at her own mug of hot chocolate. Felicia feels something build in her throat. “Emily needs you. I’d—like to get to know you.” She looks at Felicia. “Don’t disappear.”

“Cats don’t do well with a collar and leash,” Felicia murmurs.

“I’m not trying to chain you down. Just—come back when you leave. Cats come back.”

“It almost sounds like you like me. What do you think, Red? You, me, Emily. A happy little family.”

MJ sighs and says, “I thought you weren’t the type to settle down.”

“I’m not. But you’re hardly one to settle yourself, are you?”

She looks at Felicia sharply, and swallows. “No. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be happy with what I have sometimes.” She looks at Emily, and back at Felicia.

“You saved me. Not just last week. A year and a half ago. Before you left Peter.”

Peter always knew they were just having fun, even if he pretended otherwise for a while. Even if she did. Neither of them ever expected her to stay.

She says, "He’s moved on, hasn’t he? I thought it’d be with you, to be honest.”

MJ rolls her eyes.

“We tried that. We’re better off as friends. Best friends, but... just friends.”

“Hm.”

MJ, not one to be distracted from the question she wants answered, presses forward and asks, “Why did you save me?”

Felicia shrugs. “You were brave, breaking in like that. All for a story.”

“Peter would have said it was foolish.”

“He wouldn't be wrong. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t impressive.”

MJ stays quiet, and then, “Thanks.” After a moment, she quickly adds, almost nervous, “You were too. Brave, I mean. I've always thought—" She stops. "We could be friends you know.”

Felicia raises an eyebrow.

“You want to be my _friend_ , Red?”

MJ looks at her, and hesitantly says, “Yes. Or—more. Maybe. If you—if that’s something—”

Emily is sleeping against Felicia’s arm, sweaty and curled up like a cat. They both look at her.

“It’d be nice, wouldn’t it? Just to see.”

Felicia, for better or worse, stands up carefully, holding Emily still so as not to wake her.

“Well then. Show me where to put Emily down for bed.”

MJ grins and gets up. She twists around, the t-shirt she’s wearing sliding up to reveal a slice of skin above her jeans. Felicia’s going to enjoy getting her mouth on it later.

“Come on,” MJ says. “I’ll show you.”


End file.
